SPL dose data logger system

Abstract

A method for using an earpiece ( 800 ) in a work environment is provided. The earpiece ( 800 ) attenuates sound from the work environment to the user's ear. The earpiece ( 800 ) includes an ear canal microphone ( 820 ) for measuring a sound pressure level in an ear canal of the user. Sound pressure levels are measured periodically while in the work environment. Each measured sound pressure levels is stored in memory ( 127 ) of the earpiece with time and location information. The sound pressure level information is downloaded to a database ( 1704 ) when the earpiece is removed from the user ear for recharging. The sound pressure level information is analyzed and any potential noise compliance issues in the work environment are identified.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of mitigating hearing damage and providing sound pressure level (SPL) information comprising the steps of:
 attenuating ambient sound from reaching an ear canal of a user by way of an earpiece having at least one transducer including an ear canal receiver (ECR); 
 periodically measuring first SPL information in a time period having a plurality of samples from the ambient sound received proximate the earpiece external to the ear canal; 
 periodically measuring second SPL information in the time period, synchronous with the first SPL information, from a driving signal provided to the ECR; 
 combining, for each time period, the first SPL information and the second SPL information to form combined SPL information; 
 storing at least the combined SPL information or an SPL_Dose in a memory with corresponding time and location information over plural time periods; 
 using an inflatable sealing section on the earpiece configured to seal an opening to the ear canal of the user to form an acoustic seal to reduce the ambient sound from an ambient environment in a cavity of the ear canal of the user; 
 using an ear canal microphone (ECM) configured to measure the sound pressure level in the cavity of the ear canal, to confirm the acoustic seal and to test a hearing sensitivity of the user, wherein a recovery time constant tau used in a recovery function is updated in response to the hearing sensitivity test; 
 measuring a total SPL_Dose including the recovery function for indicating an accumulated user sound exposure over an extended period of time that improves an accuracy of the total SPL_Dose measurement over the extended period of time; and 
 generating an output by a digital signal processor that adaptively adjusts a sound pressure level of the at least one transducer that accounts for the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  further including the steps of:
 measuring a SPL_Dose from a SPL measurement selected from among at least one of the first SPL information, the second SPL information or the combined SPL information when the SPL measurement is greater than a permissible sound level; 
 calculating the SPL_Dose using the recovery function when the SPL measurement is less than the permissible sound level, the recovery function modeling a decrease of the SPL_Dose below the permissible sound level for a measured period of time; 
 measuring the total SPL_Dose for indicating the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time that is compared against a threshold value; and 
 storing the total SPL_Dose in the memory with the corresponding time and location information. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2  further including a step of periodically measuring the SPL_Dose and the total SPL_Dose while the user is wearing the earpiece and storing the SPL_Dose and the total SPL_Dose in the memory with the corresponding time and location information. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  further including adjusting a periodicity of the measuring of the first SPL information and the second SPL information in response to changing sound pressure levels. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  further including the steps of:
 connecting the earpiece to a recharging station where the recharging station is wired or wirelessly coupled to a database; 
 recharging the earpiece; 
 initiating a connection from the earpiece to the database when the earpiece is connected to the recharging station; and 
 downloading at least one of the first SPL information, the second SPL information or the combined SPL information from the memory to the database to form stored SPL information. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the database stores the stored SPL information for a plurality of earpieces, the method further including the steps of:
 organizing the stored SPL information by the respective user, a respective location, and a respective time; and 
 generating at least one map illustrating sound pressure levels in a predetermined area at a predetermined time or over a predetermined time period based on the stored SPL information. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  further including the steps of:
 measuring the first SPL information using an ambient sound microphone (ASM) of the earpiece; 
 measuring third SPL information in the ear canal of the user using the ear canal microphone (ECM) of the earpiece; 
 comparing the first SPL information of the ASM to the third SPL information of the ECM; 
 taking an action when the measured first SPL information and the third SPL information are within a predetermined range. 
 
     
     
       8. A method of using an earpiece in a work environment comprising the steps of:
 attenuating sound in the work environment by way of an earpiece including an ear canal microphone (ECM); 
 periodically measuring sound pressure level information in an ear canal in a time period having a plurality of samples in the work environment using the ECM of the earpiece, where a time and location is included with each measurement; 
 storing at least the SPL_Dose in a memory over plural time periods; 
 downloading at least the SPL_Dose over the plural time periods to a database; 
 analyzing, in the database, at least the SPL_Dose over the plural time periods, to form analyzed information; 
 identifying potential noise compliance issues in the work environment responsive to the analyzed information; 
 using an inflatable sealing section on the earpiece to seal an opening to the ear canal of the user to form an acoustic seal; and 
 using the ear canal microphone to measure the SPL_Dose in the earpiece from the sound pressure level information, to confirm the acoustic seal, to test a hearing sensitivity of a user's ear and for updating a recovery time constant tau used in a recovery function in response to the hearing sensitivity test; 
 measuring a total SPL_Dose including the recovery function for indicating an accumulated user sound exposure over an extended period of time that accounts for effective quiet levels and improves an accuracy of the total SPL_Dose measurement over the extended period of time; and 
 generating an output by a digital signal processor that adaptively adjust a sound pressure level of at least one transducer of the earpiece that accounts for the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  further including the steps of:
 identifying areas of the work environment having a sound exposure risk based on the analyzed information; and 
 generating a map of at least one of the sound pressure level information or the SPL_Dose in the work environment at a predetermined time or over a predetermined time interval illustrating the areas of sound exposure risk. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8  further including the steps of:
 increasing a pressure in a sealing section of the earpiece when the sound pressure level information is greater than a threshold value to increase an attenuation provided by the earpiece; and 
 decreasing the pressure in the sealing section of the earpiece when the sound pressure level information is less than the threshold value. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8  further including the steps of:
 measuring a SPL_Dose with the sound pressure level information when the sound pressure level information is greater than a permissible sound level; 
 calculating the SPL_Dose using the recovery function when the sound pressure level information is less than the permissible sound level, the recovery function modeling a decrease of the SPL_Dose below the permissible sound level; 
 updating the total SPL_Dose with each sound pressure level information measurement; 
 storing the total SPL_Dose with each sound pressure level information measurement; and 
 taking an action to mitigate hearing damage when the total SPL_Dose reaches a maximum allowable total SPL_Dose that accounts for periods of effective quiet levels over a measured period of time. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 8  further including the steps of:
 measuring further sound pressure level information in the work environment using an ambient sound microphone of the earpiece; and 
 providing sound to the ear canal using an ear canal receiver of the earpiece. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12  further including the steps of:
 detecting when the sound pressure level information measured by the ear canal microphone is within a predetermined range of the further sound pressure level information measured by the ambient sound microphone; and 
 responsive to the detecting, initiating an action to the user of the earpiece for determining if the earpiece is correctly sealing the ear canal. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 8  further including a step of using a microphone in proximity to the earpiece to measure further sound pressure level information in the work environment; and
 providing sound to the ear canal using an ear canal receiver of the earpiece. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the stored sound pressure level information is downloaded to the database when the earpiece is being recharged. 
     
     
       16. A method of mapping comprising the steps of:
 attenuating sound by way of a plurality of earpieces where each earpiece includes at least one transducer; 
 periodically measuring sound pressure levels and a sound pressure level dose (SPL_Dose) in an ambient environment using the plurality of earpieces, where each SPL_Dose is measured using an ear canal microphone of each earpiece when the corresponding sound pressure levels are greater than a permissible sound level, and is calculated using a recovery function when the sound pressure levels are less than the permissible sound level, the recovery function modeling a decrease of the SPL_Dose below the permissible sound level; 
 storing the SPL_Dose over plural measurements in a database with corresponding time and location information of each measurement; 
 generating a map of at least the SPL_Dose based on the plural measurements for a predetermined area of the ambient environment over a predetermined time period; 
 using an inflatable sealing section on the earpiece to seal an opening to the ear canal of the user to form an acoustic seal to reduce the ambient sound from an ambient environment in a cavity of the ear canal of the user; and 
 using the ear canal microphone configured to measure the sound pressure level in the cavity of the ear canal, to confirm the acoustic seal and to test a hearing sensitivity of the user, wherein a recovery time constant tau used in a recovery function is updated in response to the hearing sensitivity test; 
 measuring a total SPL_Dose including a recovery function for indicating an accumulated user sound exposure over an extended period of time that accounts for effective quiet levels over the extended period of time; and 
 generating an output by a digital signals processor that adaptively adjusts a sound pressure level of the at least one transducer that accounts for the accumulated user sound exposure over the extended period of time. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16  further including the steps of:
 coupling at least one of the earpieces to a recharging system where the recharging system is coupled to the database; 
 downloading the sound pressure levels to the database when a corresponding earpiece is being recharged; 
 analyzing the respective sound pressure levels in the database; and 
 identifying that areas of the ambient environment are in compliance with predetermined noise standards. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17  further including the steps of:
 increasing a periodicity of the measuring of the sound pressure levels and the SPL_Dose when a change in the measured sound pressure levels is above a SPL difference value; and 
 decreasing the periodicity of the measuring of the sound pressure levels when the change in the measured sound pressure levels is below the SPL difference value. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 17  further including a step of increasing a periodicity of the measuring of the sound pressure levels and the SPL_Dose as the sound pressure levels rise.